friend and it is also about what it means to get old. in 1986 my son was 2. i decided i would like to adapt the velveteen rabbit. mind you, i had never read it as a child but heard it as a mother. my first time was a bedtime story recording. it was through that that i defined the theme and really determined how i was going to produce the story. is it true listening to it. when i made the dance i watched my son, since i have been taking him to live performances since he

was 6 years old. he loved it when he saw his peers or when someone was reading to him or he heard language. early when the bunny first comes out they go, ah, the rabbit. i think talking, flying, something they can relate to. and the adults love nana. nan na is the main adult figure in the show. the fairy is played by the same person. fair is very much like the love for your first child. pure love. nature is a beautiful thing.

all wild rabbits come from nature. i think nature is mysterious, beautiful, not something our kids get very much these days. there's fantastical spectacle because of computers and film. i think in live performance, in a way being paired down, you can be more successful and ask everybody to buy into the world you are in. if it is a simple world they will buy in, as long as the world is consistent that you have on stage. in some ways i also want that message for kids. it doesn't have to be spectacle but how you feel and having fun and taking things seriously, not about being blown away.

>> what is real? it is a thing that happens to you when a child loves you for a long, long time. >> i think it is a success. for the most part if you are three to seven, you sit in the seats and most of the time the kids are engaged. they laugh and ask questions. i think that is success. the fact we tour it and do it here, it is lasting. i really want to say the reason it is lasting is because of the story marjorie williams wrote is a gem of a story. if it was just an okay story, it wouldn't have lasted this long. i have had people say that is the first show i ever saw, that is why i am a

choreographer. i have had people that have come back when they are 20 and 23 years old. little kids and people in their 50s and 60s are telling me how much they love it. they come back more than once, they come back year after year. >> i want to learn more about it. >> social networking and e-mail. >> i want to know how to use it. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> divisional divide is a divide between those with access to use digital tools and those who don't.

>> with young people, having computers and i just don't know. they're doing it fast. so, i want to know. >> not knowing how to navigate the internet or at a loss of what to do. >> we don't have a computer. >> we're a nonprofit that unites organizations and volunteers to transform lies through literacy. our big problem right now is the broadband opportunity program. a federally funded project through the department of aging. so, we're working in 26 locations. our volunteers are trained to be tutors and trainers, offering everything from basic classes all the way to genealogy and job search. >> to me computers, knowing how to use it. >> i think it's really important to everybody and possibly especially seniors to

get enough of these skills to stay in touch. >> it's been fun. with seniors, to get them out of their homes. >> so they can connect with their family members. or their family members. >> [speaking in spanish]. >> so, what we focus on is transferring skills from volunteer to learner to help them get onto facebook, find housing in crisis, be able to connect with friends and family. >> i decided to teach what i learn and it made me want to

give back. i discovered that seniors do a lot of review. >> i am a beginner, so, little by little i learn. i learn a lot now. >> if you get the basics, you can learn it. it's simple. it's easy. once you know it. and that's what i want to learn, how to make my life easier and more knowledgeable with the computer. >> so, what we need right now are more people who speak languages other than english or in addition to english who can give their time during the day and who care deeply ideally about helping to close the divide. >> it's a humbling experience. it's something simple to ask in our daily life, but to someone that doesn't know and to help somebody gain that experience in any way is awesome.

>> [speaking in spanish]. >> no matter how tired or cranky or whatever i might feel, when i walk into this place i always walk out feeling great. >> if you feel comfortable using computers and you have patience, we want you on our team. >> would you show me how to type? >> [speaking in spanish]. >> will you help me learn more?

♪ ♪ ♪ >> the san francisco playground's history dates back to 1927 when the area where the present playground and center is today was purchased by the city for $27,000. in the 1950s, the center was expanded by then mayor robinson and the old gym was built. thanks to the passage of the 2008 clean and safe neighborhood parks bond, the sunset playground has undergone extensive renovation to its four acres of fields, courts, play grounds, community rooms, and historic gymnasium. >> here we are. 60 years and $14 million later,

and we have got this beautiful, brand-new rec center completely accessible to the entire neighborhood. >> the new rec center houses multi-purpose rooms for all kinds of activities, including basketball, line dancing, playing ping-pong, and arts and crafts. >> use it for whatever you want to do, you can do it here. >> on friday, november 16th, the dedication and ribbon cutting took place at the sunset playground and recreation center celebrating its renovation. it was raining, but the rain clearly did not dampen the spirits of the dignitaries, community members, and children in attendance. [cheering and applauding] ♪ ♪ ♪

[horns honking] [siren wails] announcer: big dreams and goodrades aren't enough to get into college.

there are actual steps you need to take. finding someone who can help is the first and most important. for the next steps, go to knowhow2go.org. >> good morning everybody. all right. welcome to the city and county of san francisco the innovation capital of the world and of course for those of you that come from beyond welcome to the world series champion city and county of san francisco. [applause] thank you for coming to our moscone center, our convention center and lead gold certified building and i can't think of a more appropriate place to host the 2012 green build and expo and conference here in san

francisco with a city with more than 48 million square feet of green certified real estate. [applause] . absolutely. our innovative green building policies ensure while the city's population and economy continue to grow we are decreasing our carbon emissions and achieve a sustainable environment. for instance this requires all new buildings designed to meet the gas reduction goals. that means more than 6 million square feet of commercial space and 11,000 housing units all in the development pipeline have been designed using these principles. [applause] in fact san francisco was recently recognized by the world

green building council as having the greenest building policy by any local level in the year 2011 and we just began implementing our existing commercial energy performance ordinance which helps private property owners lower energy use. through san francisco's program green sf we are making it easier for property owners to secure financing for green building upgrades and as can you see green buildings has become the standard rather than the exception. for our public libraries to affordable housing units, even to the home of our world series giants and their structure our buildings are achieving lead certification at a rapid pace and our san

francisco public utilities commission has won smartest building in the world and we have honors such as the greenest city in north america, the walkable city, and the best green policies, the green tech of north america and forbes recognized that san francisco has the most green jobs in the united states. that's jobs. that's one of the most important things we are doing for the whole country. [applause] and we are creating and sustaining jobs as well as supporting new industries in our city. our energy watch program creates or sustains 180 jobs a year. san francisco has now achieved 80% landfill diversion rate setting the national

recycling and compost records as the high of any city in north america. [applause] and by the way as a former public works director you ought ton how proud i am. we have the best compost in the united states and in fact it's sold to all of the wineries in napa that make and produce the best wines in the world. our partners employs over a thousand green collar employees and solar sf resulted in hiring from employees from disadvantaged communities in the work force program. i want to acknowledge and thank green build towards considering toward the success and the projects and the living wall in the tenderloin

community garden and the potrero hill street farm and let me thank someone that has been invaluable to me and my career and my work and my efforts to make this city successful. i want to acknowledge a pioneer in the sustainable practices our former mayor and now lieutenant governor gavin newsom. [applause] >> a couple years ago then mayor newsom forged a partner with san francisco and president clinton and the clinton global initiative to transform the civic city into the first of its kind sustainable resource district. since then we have built 525 golden gate, our puc building, one of the greenest in north america and on track to receive lead platinum certification. yes. we have

installed electric charging stations here at civic center. we have free wi-fi. we have installations at the urban gardens and led lights in the plaza and we continue to do even more. i am proud to announce here that we have applied for lead certification of eight of the existing buildings in the san francisco historic civic center district. [applause] that will represent more than 2.2 million square feet of civic real estate, including buildings such as city hall, the symphony, the library, the art museum and more. it's challenging to retrofit some of the buildings for energy efficiency and water

conservation but we have done it. once lead certified the civic center retrofit strategies and technology can serve as a model to other cities and i would like to take this opportunity to recognize leaders from all the country and our world that have made great strides in environmental stewardships themselves and have joined in this conference including mayor fong from oakland, mayor kevin johnson from sacramento, mayor cory booker from new ark and hif a applause and support his city with. [applause] i would also like to welcome former governor from new york patacky and thank you for your leadership. over the next days

you will learn about sustainable practices. you will network with the greatest minds in the industry and enjoy your time here. be thoughtful. be creative and go out and lead the befl energy and green policies for the rest of the country. congratulations and thanks for being here in san francisco. [applause] >> well, good morning, good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. here in the outer sunset on a, what is looking to be a beautiful day, my name is

joaquin torres, with the work force development lead intion mayor lee's program look tog coordinate city resources both existing and new to serve our neighborhoods in need and to serve our small business commercial corridors. one of the things that has been so important to the mayor is making sure that we're attentive and listening to the streets and there is certainly no one better to know that than mayor lee who has been both our director of public works, then moved on to being city administrator, and now our mayor of our city. so, to make the announcement of this new program that will benefit merchants and small businesses up and down corridors like the one we're here on today, i'd like to invite further direction, mayor lee. thank you, mayor. (applause) >> thank you. it's great to be out here in sunset out in irving street. i should come out here every week, the dpw folk are cleaning the streets pretty well.

[laughter] >> it's great to see all of you here today. you know, earlier this year, particularly during the budget negotiations, supervisor carmen chu and i and a number of other supervisors engaged in a lot of discussions about what our neighborhood small businesses could benefit from as we saw indications of our budget recovery. and clearly we understood and have always understood the role of small businesses. and they're the backbone of the city and our office of economic development was headed by todd who is here and joaquin is helping out with the investment neighborhood strategy. we wanted to really demonstrate that, our commitment. not just by saying it, but actually doing things that would really support our small business. scott and henry and many others, benny and others who have been around us know that my favorite thing is to go to a

neighborhood commercial corridor like terra val or out in the sunset noriega and have meals or breakfast or a cup of coffee and really find out all the distinctions that each neighborhood has to offer. i've been a big supporter of our commercial corridors. historically and all my different capacities. but as mayor, i think we get to do something pretty big. so, with the small business commission and regina is here today to be part of this effort, along with building inspection tom huey is here, public works as i mentioned earlier are here. all of the agencies working together with our supervisors and mayor's office have come together and put this program together and we want to announce and launch it today in front of martin lam's good will shop here because he's been a real great leader in helping many of the small businesses, and particularly those that don't speak english owned by proprietors that maybe english is not their first language. over the past couple years,

supervisor chu and i have been talking about these drive-by lawsuits that have been occurring and how shocked some of these businesses are to the sometimes abusive process that are used by litigators to get at them. but in the context of overall our city's willingness to comply with a-d-a, with title 24 of the state, and our own access through our mayor's office of disability. we want everybody to comply. we don't want them to be victims of irrational and abusive lawsuits. and at the same time, we want to give them the help that they so well deserve. and, so, with the extra monies that we have, with the extra monies that supervisor chu also had and making sure that we used it wisely, we decide that had we would create this a-d-a small business access program

in conjunction with asian neighborhood services and northeast credit union. we would not only provide some free assessments by certified access specialists that would come out here to the commercial corridors like irving, like noriega and taraval in our investment neighborhood strategies, they would offer these free assessments that would do the inspection and allow the small businesses to understand what all the challenges are. so, it begins with that assessment. and then with the monies that we do have, we wanted to follow-up with our sf shines programs and other programs that we have and offer a combination of grants and micro lending loan programs that are available to these businesses so they can make the corrections in an affordable way. this is our city's attempt, it is fully supported by the board of supervisors, and this program i think now has its

ability to be launched and have -- really meet these access challenges in a positive way. so, we're not just avoiding lawsuits. i think we do want everybody business to be compliant, as they should be. but we're caught up sometimes with businesses that change hands. people don't know whether or not they're grandfathered in or whether or not -- how accessible it is to everybody. but we also know that there are many people who have disabilities that have also -- want to have access to the businesses all around these corridors and enjoy it as much as we do. so, i think full compliance is the goal. and to have education, to have free access assessment being done. and then to follow-up by those that are challenged economically, to have loans and to have grants that are made available to have all of them participate in this program is incredibly good for the city. and i think it will help many

of the small businesses understand their obligations to respond to these better, but also help them get into compliance better. so, i'm glad to launch this program here on irving street with supervisor chu who has been a really big champion for this. but we have many members of our business community that have also been asking us to do something positive about this. and not let these small businesses become victimized in these drive-by lawsuits. to do what we can to make it a positive thing. so, i'm so glad that joaquin has come aboard to help us. he, having headed up the neighborhood services program for years, now has his talent with todd in making sure that all of the small businesses along these commercial corridors have access to our programs, have a higher degree of understanding, along with our carla johnson and our mayor's office of disability, and all the